SHARE ON: |
| |
| |
 |
 |
|
|
A Texas nurse was convicted Tuesday of capital murder in the deaths of four patients who died after prosecutors say he injected them with air following heart surgeries.
The Smith County jury deliberated for about an hour before finding William George Davis, of Hallsville, guilty of capital murder involving multiple victims. Prosecutors planned to seek the death penalty during the sentencing phase, which was scheduled to start Wednesday.
Davis, 37, was accused of injecting air into the four patients arteries after they underwent heart surgery at the Christus Trinity Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler in 2017 and 2018. During recovery from their surgeries, the four -- John Lafferty, Ronald Clark, Christopher Greenway and Joseph Kalina -- suffered unexplained neurological problems and died.
During the trial, Dr. William Yarbrough, a Dallas-area pulmonologist and professor of internal medicine, explained to the jury how injecting air into the arterial system of the brain causes brain injury and death.
Yarbrough said he was able to determine there was air in the arterial system of the victims brains by viewing images from brain scans -- something he said he had never before observed in his decades in medicine.
He ruled out blood pressure problems or any other causes of death besides the injection of air, and said it must have happened after the surgeries because the complications occurred while the patients were in recovery.
Defense attorney Phillip Hayes told the jury that the hospital had issues and that Davis was a scapegoat who was only charged because he was there when the deaths occurred.
Prosecutor Chris Gatewood said during closing arguments that Davis liked to kill people. And prosecutor Jacob Putman said the hospital hadnt changed any of its procedures and hadnt had any similar incidents since Davis left.
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
3 pm |
| 2 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: SE 19 KM/H
GUSTING TO 37 KM/H |
|
|
 |
4 pm |
| 1 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 20 KM/H
GUSTING TO 37 KM/H |
|
|
 |
5 pm |
| 2 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 20 KM/H
GUSTING TO 35 KM/H |
|
|
 |
6 pm |
| 2 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 19 KM/H
GUSTING TO 34 KM/H |
|
 |
 |
7 pm |
| 2 ℃ |
| SCATTERED CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 18 KM/H
GUSTING TO 32 KM/H |
|
|
 |
8 pm |
| 3 ℃ |
| FEW CLOUDS |
WIND: S 17 KM/H
GUSTING TO 29 KM/H |
|
|
 |
9 pm |
| 2 ℃ |
| CLEAR SKY |
WIND: S 15 KM/H
GUSTING TO 26 KM/H |
|
|
 |
10 pm |
| 2 ℃ |
| CLEAR SKY |
WIND: SSW 13 KM/H
GUSTING TO 23 KM/H |
|
 |
 |
 |
TODAY |
HIGH OF 3 ℃
LOW OF -3 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
|
|
 |
FRIDAY |
HIGH OF 10 ℃
LOW OF -1 ℃ |
| CLEAR SKY |
|
|
 |
SATURDAY |
HIGH OF 11 ℃
LOW OF 0 ℃ |
| CLEAR SKY |
|
|
 |
SUNDAY |
HIGH OF 12 ℃
LOW OF -1 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
|
 |
 |
MONDAY |
HIGH OF 9 ℃
LOW OF 1 ℃ |
| CLEAR SKY |
|
|
 |
TUESDAY |
HIGH OF 3 ℃
LOW OF -2 ℃ |
| LIGHT RAIN |
|
|
 |
WEDNESDAY |
HIGH OF 4 ℃
LOW OF -2 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
|
|
 |
THURSDAY |
HIGH OF 8 ℃
LOW OF -2 ℃ |
| FEW CLOUDS |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
| Fanatics Black Friday – Score Big Savings! |
| |
| Black Friday is game time! Shop Fanatics for officially licensed jerseys, apparel, hats, collectibles and more from your favorite teams and leagues. |
| |
| Black Friday savings will not last! Shop Fanatics and score your favorites before the sale ends. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
BLAKE SHELTON HANGIN ON 03:54 PM |
 |
 |
GREG BATES DID IT FOR THE GIRL 03:51 PM |
 |
 |
BRIAN KELLEY BOUGHT A BOAT 03:47 PM |
 |
 |
BRANTLEY GILBERT ME AND MY HOUSE 03:41 PM |
 |
 |
JADE EAGLESON WORTH THE DOUBLE 03:38 PM |
 |
 |
CHASE WRIGHT COUNTRY SIDE 03:34 PM |
 |
 |
STEVE MOAKLER SUITCASE 03:31 PM |
 |
 |
RAELYNN THE BARN 03:27 PM |
 |
 |
BRANTLEY GILBERT REAL AMERICAN 03:24 PM |
 |
 |
KANE BROWN BODY TALK 03:22 PM |
 |
 |